TCLA Vacation Scheme Applications Discussion Thread 2025-26

[yk1906]

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God I love this forum so much already 😂 😂

 

[stilltrying]

Does anyone have any insights into Jones Day first interview. Can provide insights into latham and HSFK AC along with many VI's

 

[oneskillfc]

Sometime around the 1-7th Dec I reckon.

sorry to ask. I wanna know if you got rejected despite passing the SJT? And is it for their spring VS?

 

[bh.sa]

 

[firmfirm]

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Haven’t been on here in a while but I’ve just hopped back on and can already tell the atmosphere isn’t great. What a way to lift the mood 🤣🤣

 

[Donuttime]

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how was this made so quickly? is this AI?

 

[iwatchsuits]

I think a balance must be struck. This is a community so we need to listen to eachother and understand different perspectives as mentioned by @uhfwejdj @Mike Ross but at the same time I love the energy and vibrancy @elle woods brings to the community. lets all be mindful of each-other and most importantly kind. sending peace and love

As someone who doesn’t really know/interact with many other people who are either applying for vacation schemes or are willing to talk about their experiences, this forum has been incredibly useful. It’s great to get more insight into other people’s current stages in applications, but it is also lovely to really connect with people over this process. It can be incredibly isolating, daunting and scary, and no one really understands how hard it is unless they are in the process themselves. So, @elle woods, I personally really appreciate your transparency and humour, and I appreciate everyone else who is willing to be open here about the ups and downs. ❤️

 

[Trophy]

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bahahahahHahahaha🤣🤣🤣🤣

“Can you tell us about a time when you had to make a difficult decision?”

 

[boots pharmacy]

how was this made so quickly? is this AI?

A magician never reveals their tricks.

 

[boots pharmacy]

Does anyone know if the Milbank Stage 1 test includes a VI component? Or is it a standard SJT?

 

[yk1906]

Does anyone know if the Milbank Stage 1 test includes a VI component? Or is it a standard SJT?

No VI but SJT + 2 open questions

 

[boots pharmacy]

No VI but SJT + 2 open questions

Thank you.

 

[Trophy]

Does anyone know if the Milbank Stage 1 test includes a VI component? Or is it a standard SJT?

No.

SJT + 2 written questions 20 minutes given to write each question.

Not sure why people are gate keeping giving advice about the milbank stage 1 test…

 

[yk1906]

No.

SJT + 2 written questions 20 minutes given to write each question.

Not sure why people are gate keeping giving advice about the milbank stage 1 test…

Someone said Milbank revealed the fact that there are 2 open questions during an OD, so it's not really an integrity breach to write about it

 

[ttso]

You have a strong profile, but unfortunately yes--luck seems to play an immensely large role even when it comes to top 1% candidates. I have multiple anecdotes of friends or acquaintances who ended up with 4+ VS's and TC offers at absolute top of the market firms (Kirkland, Latham, Davis Polk, W&C, All the MC, etc.) getting 10-20 rejections from 'less competitive' shops.

Application quality also seems hit or miss, had one friend who was a megafan of HSF; attended 3 Open Days/Events, came top in a HSF sponsored negotiations competition, spoke to grad rec, spent ages crafting the best possible app, got trainees and alumni to review (with great feedback), passed the SJT.

Rejected at the first review stage.

By contrast, that same person made an application to Milbank on a whim, barely submitting minutes before the deadline. Spent probably less than an hour on the application. Eventually got the TC there (and at 3 other super tier US/MC firms most would consider more competitive than HSF).

Same guy also got rejected from other US/MC firms, large national firms, SC firms, etc.

Persevere.

Edit: I will emphasise that this guy also gained a 1st from a target university, and so academics weren't an issue. Certain firms have soft 'auto-rejects' based on academics, no matter how strong the rest of your profile is, so that is certainly something to take note of as well.

Ah, I probably wasn't clear on the academics front - I averaged in the high 70s (achieved, not predicted) from a Russel Group Target university. Thank you for the response, very interesting to read!

 

[Disgruntled SQE Student]

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4th one in the last couple years. Funny that cross border demands are driving firms to become truly transatlantic full service. The traditional MC and SC are no longer... I suspect another NQ pay war to be incoming as US money starts flowing into UK practices.... Wonder how S&M, Linklaters and the rest will cope without expanding global practices....

 

[Trophy]

Someone said Milbank revealed the fact that there are 2 open questions during an OD, so it's not really an integrity breach to write about it

Yeah that’s what I thought! It’s just weird as I myself was told it was just an SJT. And I’ve seen others been told that as well.

No one really gains an advantage by saying what the elements are. It’s different if you said what the questions were. Oh well hopefully future milbank stage 1 people can see these posts🙌

 

[TheSlapDotCom]

I don’t mean to seem rude but please can you stop giving us a running commentary. I see you post about 50 times on here a day and most are not actually related to vacation schemes. It makes useful information much harder to access if people are constantly having to read through pages and pages of posts related to you having a nap or building Lego.

aw??😭i kinda get ur point but i think the forum’s also meant to be for ppl to connect and this might js be her way of doing that🤷‍♀️it seems she‘s also made friends on here, which ig is also the point of community

 

[Bree]

Don't apologise! Happy to help!

It may vary from firm to firm but yes, SQE courses generally start in September.

An example of my ULaw timeline:
September 2024 - SQE 1&2 course started.
August 2025 - classes ended, some coursework still ongoing.
September 2025 - generally hand-ins complete. September 2025 cohort trainees start their TC.
October 2025 - SQE course officially ends.
March 2026 - March 2026 cohort trainees (if applicable) start their TC.

As most firms begin their TCs in September, I imagine this timeline will be the same/similar for most firms, though it would look different if the applicant needed to do the PGDL.

Thank you for this. I think with PGDL, it looks like 1.5 years of study then

 

[Harvey Specter]

Wtf is going on with all these law firms merging. Just seen that Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader are gna merge together. What do they even have in common with each other. Taylor Wessing and Winston & Strawn is also an odd mixup. 😂​